Herby one millet meal

Here’s a delicious way of cooking my new favourite grain–millet. Okay, it’s not really a one minute meal, but still relatively quick and easy to make once you’ve sourced the ingredients. I tend to enjoy it with wild greens and other elements but this is pretty good on it’s own or just with a ferment or some pickled wild garlic flower buds. For the herbs, folded in after cooking, you can use three cornered garlic flowers young alexanders leaves, coriander or whatever seasonal herbs you find in the shops and hedgerows. Wild garlic and crow garlic (wild chives) are certainly both very good for this recipe too. You can use bought or homemade stock and a heavy base pan is best if you have one but not essential.

Ingredients:

  • Sunflower oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Millet – 200g
  • Salt – 1/2 tspn
  • Bought and wild herbs – A handful
  • Stock – 1 litre approx
  • Ginger – one tspn
  • Mustard seeds (light or dark) – 1 tspn
  • Coriander seeds – 1 tspn
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tspn
  • Curry leaves fresh or dried (optional) – 5/10 leaves
  • Hogweed seed powder (optional) – 1/4 tspn
  • Garlic cloves chopped – 2
  • Red onion cut in slices – 1
  • Zest of a lime

Method…

First of all I heated sunflower oil in the pan with ginger, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, hogweed seed powder, mustard seeds, curry leaves, garlic and onions. Once the onions were soft I added the washed millet, vegetable stock (to about an inch above level of the millet or perhaps 2/1 stock/millet ratio) and generous pinch of salt. I then brought it to a boil, turned down the heat, placed the lid on the pan and simmered for 15 minutes.

I then turned off the heat and left my pan (with the lid still on) for 20 mins so the millet could absorb the rest of the stock. Then I just folded in the herbs, olive oil and lime zest using a fork. So nice to eat alone or add things too. I had it with some sautĂ©ed leaks, marinated tempeh and sweet potatoes… and the first wild garlic pesto! 

Note: Millet brands can differ. Some millet needs longer to cook and may require more or less stock. Find one you like and get used to how it behaves. I use Essential brand millet.